The L-Force: A Terror in Time
by Zexo87
Summary: Based on The L-Force universe created by ironlegion. When the L-Force is attacked by a mysterious and powerful new enemy, they are soon met by an older version of Lincoln from the future. This Lincoln has traveled back in time to train his younger self to stand up this deadly future villain. With their future at stake, can the L-Force defeat their most dangerous foe ever?
1. A New Threat

Civilians ran screaming as destruction plagued the street. The L-Force were in the middle of another battle, this time against two giant hulking super-powered thugs. One had a body made of solid red brick and the other was made of pure solid gold. They were making an absolute wreck of the downtown area and had to be stopped.

Tailor tried to restrain them by wrapping threads of kevlar around their arms and wastes, but they broke free of them pretty easily. "Give it up, L-Dorks," the brick one mocked. "You losers are no match for Brickwall…"

"And Goldrush!' his buddy finished.

"Why don't you say that to my fists, you chumps!" Athlete shouted as she charged right at them with everything she had. Goldrush fused his hands together into a shield and the impact pushed him back several yards. As she continued pounding on his shield, Brickwall was about to go over and help him when he heard a loud angry scream and saw a bright light flying straight towards him.

Princess flew straight out of nowhere and smashed right through the big red ogre, shattering him into a million pieces. Everybody else was shocked.

"Whoa, Princess! I think you may have gone a little overboard, brah!" Rocker declared. Princess started to think she was right, until she saw the crumbled debris of his stone body start to move on its own. Bit by bit, the rocks stacked themselves together until Brickwall was completely restored.

"Of course, on the other hand," Night commented.

"Come on, buddy. We can take 'em," said Housepet riding on the back of Charles. "CHARGE!" she cried. Charles rushed forward, ready to pounce and chew the big stinker to bits. Brickwall raised his fists over his head and slammed them onto the ground, creating an earthquake. The shockwave knocked Charles clean off his paws and sent him plowing into the pavement. "Charles!" Housepet cried. The big dog whimpered, his breath knocked out from the villain's attack. "It's okay, boy. You gave it your best shot."

Athlete was still facing off against Goldrush, dealing as many blows as she could, trying to find a weak spot in his golden hide. Dodging his attacks while throwing her own was starting to tire her out, but then April Fool snuck up from behind and coiled her body around his arms, legs and torso like a snake. She had him almost completely immobilized.

"What the heck-mmph-mmph!" Fool covered his whole mouth by stretching her hand over it.

"What's the matter, buddy? Feeling a little tongue-tied?" she joked. "Hahahaha! Get it?" Just then, his fist came up and smacked her in the face. It made her lose her grip and Goldrush freed himself from her grasp, leaving her dazed on the ground in pain.

"It's too bad you're not on our side," Goldrush said. "I love flexible girls."

"Ew!" Fool cringed. "Two painful punchlines in a row."

As Athlete tended to her wounded sister, the golden giant stood over them and laughed a stupid-sounding laugh.

"Hey, Big Ugly and Stupid!" a voice shouted from behind him. He turned around to see Link pointing his staff at him. "You got a brain in that hard skull or is it all just dust?"

That definitely made him mad. "What did you say to me, you little nerd?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm not very fluent in moron. Tell me if this means anything." He crossed his eyes and blew a raspberry at him. That made Goldrush come at him like a raging bull. "That's it. Come and get me, you big gold-plated goon."

Goldrush was getting closer and closer, but Link stood his ground and waited. Then, at just the right moment, he used his staff to poll volt high above his head. He descended with an aerial flip to increase his velocity and _**WHAM!**_ … delivered a mighty blow to the big oaf's head with his powerful staff, knocking him out cold.

"Ha! Just as I thought. Your head's as hollow as a- AHHH!"

Suddenly, Brickwall's giant fist snuck up on Link and sent him smashing into a nearby building. The impact broke off a large chunk of concrete which fell right towards him. He covered his head in fear, but then it stopped just above his head. Control Freak had caught it with her telekinesis just in time and then she chucked it at Brickwall.

"Thanks," he said. "I owe you one for that."

"Are you okay, Link?"

"I'm fine. Just a little banged up is all." He winced in pained as he tried to stand up. His back was very sore.

"I think you'd better sit the rest of this fight out."

"What? No way! I just got sucker punched. You expect me to take that lying down?"

"Yes."

"But you guys need me. I already took out the gold guy." At that moment, Goldrush woke up and stood up next to his buddy, who both looked pretty angry. Obviously, this didn't help Link's case.

"Please, just stay back and try not to get in the way."

Control Freak ran off to help the others, leaving Lincoln feeling a bit stung. _'Get in the way?'_ That really hurt.

As Lincoln sat by watching the fight go on without him, he couldn't help but feel left out, even if he was a little sore. It wasn't as bad as being stuck at his desk since he was still close to the action, but he still didn't like having to sit idly by while his sisters had all the fun.

Just then, two boys ran past him. The younger one stopped to talk to him. "Hey, what are you doing just sitting here? Aren't you gonna help?" he asked.

"Believe me, I'd love to be helping, but I-"

"Of course he's not gonna help," the older kid interrupted. "Everybody knows Link's just a sidekick. He doesn't even have any powers."

"What?! Hey, I do so have powers! And I am not a sidekick!" Link objected.

All of a sudden, Goldrush crashed into the building right next to them. The two boys ran away as he spotted Link sitting alone on the ground.

"You!" Goldrush shouted as he stood up. "You're gonna pay for knocking me out you little twerp."

The golden giant lumbered angrily towards Link. He tried to get up and run, but he was in too much pain. Goldrush fashioned his fist into a giant mace with spikes on it. Link grabbed his staff to defend himself, but was too panicked to think of exactly what to do with is. Goldrush was just about to pulverize him into goo when all of a sudden…

A huge blast of red light shot forth and sent him flying until he collided with Brickwall.

Link looked around and saw a strange person floating in the air. He was covered head to toe in a black suit with bright red eyes. His body was surrounded in a field of bright red energy. Everybody was shocked. Link, the girls, even Brickwall and Goldrush. The two of them barely had time to blink before he flew at them at lightning speed and hoisted both of them into the air at once. He showed off with a helicopter spin before he chucked them both far away. Their screams faded as they crash-landed in the distance. The kids all stared in awe of this incredible superhuman who had single-handedly done what they couldn't do all together.

"Sweet Mother of Newton!" Brainy exclaimed.

"Holy crud! That was amazing!" Housepet added.

"Yeah, he just took out those guys like they were nothing!" said Fool.

"Thanks for help, Mister!" Tailor called to him.

Their mysterious savior looked back at them over his shoulder. And then he turned around and shot laser beams from his eyes at them. Athlete got hit with the full force of the attack got shoved into the ground.

"What the heck?!" Princess shouted. "I thought you were on our side!"

 **"Think again,"** he replied in a deep, muddled voice.

The villain rocketed straight towards them. Night quickly pulled up a shadow vail to hide as many people as she could. The villain stood there, waiting to find out where they would emerge. Just as Night was about to pop out of the shadow of a building, he turned and blasted a ray of red energy that blinded her and left her powerless.

Rocker fired sonic waves from both her hands. "Come on feel the noise!" They didn't seem to have much affect on him, though. He held his hands up in defense as two visible rings of red light began to form around them. Then he retaliated with two sonic beams of his own, taking Rocker out with her own attack.

April Fool tied up his body with her left arm and got ready to punch him with an inflated fist. "Don't feel bad. There's no shame in taking a _handout!_ " she said, giggling at her own pun.

 **"You know what happens to rubber when it freezes?"** the villain asked rhetorically. Suddenly, April Fool's arm got so cold, she could barely feel it. The chill spread to her whole body, making it incredibly limp and blob-like. She couldn't even stand up straight anymore. And the villain was released from her grip.

The team was at a major disadvantage. This enemy had a perfect counter measure for every one of their powers. When Brainy tried to use her constructs on him, he released an energy field that completely disabled her nano tech. When Housepet charged forth on Charles' back, he de-mutated him with a single touch. When Control Freak tried to hold him with her telekinesis, he broke free of it with sheer willpower. Even Princess's energy field was no match for his. It looked like the L-Force was really done for this time.

Link looked around. The villain had defeated all of his sisters and he was still in no condition to fight. He looked into the villain's deep red eyes, waiting in fear to find out how he was going to take him out. And then just like that… the villain just teleported away without another world. Link was relieved, but very confused.

* * *

After their defeat, the L-Force made their way back to their base to regroup. "That was humiliating," Luna spoke up.

"Tell me about it," Lucy agreed.

"What is that guy's deal anyway?" asked Lynn. "First he saves us and then he attacks us?"

"And why didn't he attack me when he had the chance?" Lincoln wondered.

"I don't know, but we'd better see what we can learn about him," said Lori. "Lincoln, I need you to dig up everything you can find. Search for any record of a superhuman with all of his abilities."

"On it."

"This person may be the most dangerous superhuman we've ever faced. I want everybody to be on high alert. We need to start training harder and work on developing new fighting techniques, preferably while relying on minimal use of our powers. It's the only way we'll have a chance against him."

"Ah-CHOO!" Luan sneezed. She was still recovering from her cold spell. "Can I get some hot coco first?"

The team stepped into the conference room, but somebody else was already there. They were sitting in one of the chairs facing away from them. "So, you guys finally showed up, huh?" the man in the chair said in a teasing voice. "You know it's rude to keep a house guest waiting."

The kids took their fighting stances and prepared to deal with the intruder. "Who are you?! How did you get into our base?!" Lori demanded.

"Oh come on, Lori," the man said calmly as he stood up. "Don't tell me you don't recognize your own little brother."

The man faced them with a smile and everybody stood shocked. The white hair, the overbite and the orange-and-white costume all made him look just like Lincoln, but this man must have been in his twenties. He was tall and muscular, just like a superhero from a comic book. "Who are you?" Lincoln asked in astonishment.

"I'm you." he answered. "From the future."

Everybody gasped.


	2. Promises of Tomorrow

Nobody could believe their eyes. The man in front of them was claiming to be a much older version of Lincoln from the future. They had to admit, the resemblance was incredible, but this wasn't some 80's sci-fi movie. They were gonna need to see some proof.

"If you're really me," Lincoln challenged. "Then tell me something only I would know."

The man leaned over and whispered something into Lincoln's ear that the girls couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it made him blush so hard that his face was as red and hot as a chili pepper. He turned to his sisters and said "Guys… this guy really is me!"

All of the Louds were amazed, especially Lisa. "Absolutely astounding! An authentic being from the distant future on a pilgrimage to our present! You must tell me how this is possible!"

Future Lincoln showed that he was wearing a high-tech-looking bracelet around his wrist. "Time-travel wristband. You invented it, Lis. Only two exist in the whole world."

"Holy Megahertz! I am a GENIUS!"

As Lisa grabbed his arm to better examine the wristband, the others started bombarding him with questions.

"How many movies are there about us in the future?!"

"Do I ever get to perform with Mick Swagger?!"

"When is Bobby gonna propose to me?!"

"Have I been elected Miss Universe yet?!"

"Whoa, whoa! Easy guys!" he said as he pulled himself away from them. "Believe me, I'd love to answer all your questions, but I'm here on an important mission. It's about the guy who attacked you."

"You know him?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes. He's a dangerous villain from my time. We call him Infrared. He wants nothing more than to see the entire Loud family wiped off the face of the earth."

"So what's he doing here?" asked Lynn.

"Well, you see, in the future, our powers have evolved way beyond what yours are now. In fact, we just about had him defeated before he pulled a stunt at the last minute and got away. Remember how I told you there were two of these wristbands? Well Infrared stole the other one and used it to travel back fifteen years into the past. He couldn't beat us as adults, so he thinks he can beat us as kids."

"Well it looks like he was right," Lana commented.

"I volunteered to go after him myself and bring him back to my present to face justice. But I can't do it alone."

"Don't worry. We'll all help you catch him," Lori said confidently. "Right guys?"

The entire team cheered in agreement.

"Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it," Future Lincoln said with a smile. "You all better start training right away if you wanna stand a chance at stopping Infrared."

"You heard him guys. Let's get training!"

At Lori's command, the Louds headed towards the training area. Lincoln stopped, however, when his future self grabbed his shoulder.

"Hang on, Lincoln. I need to have a word with you," Future Lincoln said.

"Uh, okay. What is it?"

F.L. looked around to make sure the others were gone. "Between you and me, I think the real key to stopping Infrared for good… is you!"

"Me? Really? But why?"

"I'll let you in on a secret. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but in the future, you've become the single greatest superhero in the world."

"Whoa! Seriously?!"

"Yup. You see, when I was you, I always felt like I couldn't keep up with our sisters in the field. I didn't have nearly as much experience as they did and, let's face it, The Event didn't exactly bless me with a flashy superpower. Everybody always treated me like a sidekick."

His adult self's words struck Lincoln pretty hard.

"I got so determined to prove myself that I started dedicating all of my free time to improving my technique. I trained several hours a day to learn everything I could about martial arts. I sharpened my mind and my senses until my intuition became as strong as my body. As I grew, so did my power. My eyes began to show me more than just measurements and trajectories. I saw things that no regular human eye could ever see on its own, which turned out to be a great advantage. And I continued to unlock new secrets about my staff as well as discover countless uses for it."

The more F.L. talked, the bigger his younger self's smile grew. Lincoln was hanging on his every word and he absolutely loved what he was hearing.

"Lincoln, if you continue on your path, then someday you're going to accomplish great things. And the whole world will see you for the hero you truly are… especially the ladies." He emphasized that last point with a wink.

"I like the sound of that."

"Lincoln, trust me when I say that you are destined for greatness."

"Sweet! But… what does that have to do with stopping Infrared?"

"Well, I believe that the way to beat Infrared is to fight fire with fire. We have to use his own power against him."

"How do we do that?"

"I'll show you."

F.L. lead Lincoln into the laboratory where Lisa kept the meteorite. Lincoln was confused at first, but then F.L. swung back and punched a whole straight into it. His arm was shoulder deep inside the giant space rock and after fishing around for a couple seconds, he yanked out a bright glowing chunk of it. Lincoln's eyes went wide in admiration and wonder.

"Do you know what this is?" F.L. asked. "This is the core of the meteorite. In the future, this is all that's left of it. It's the center of all its power. The thing that makes it so special. And it's also the key to your victory."

"Are you saying that… if I use the meteorite's core…"

"You can become as powerful as Infrared and you'll be able to beat him single-handedly at his own game."

Lincoln gazed at the glowing rock in his adult self's hand. What he was suggesting did sound pretty appealing, but something made him unsure that it was the right thing to do.

"What do you say, Link?"

"I don't know. Something about this feels kinda… dangerous."

"Yeah, I get that. Think on it for a bit. But don't forget that there is an ultra-powerful super maniac who wants to see you dead. Just something to consider."

All of a sudden, an emergency alert came through on Lincoln's communicator. When he read it, he thought maybe he needed new contacts or something because it sounded way too odd to be real. "Well that's a new one," he said out loud. "Sorry F.L. There's a monster emergency at the park. I'd better go help take care of it. Hey, do you wanna come too?"

"No, no. You go ahead. Traveling back in time is pretty exhausting. I'll just make myself comfortable here and rest a while. Maybe grab a sandwich."

"Okay then. I'll see you when I get back."

On that note, Lincoln exited that lab to join his sisters in the field.

* * *

It turned out that the report on the team's alert system was right after all. A giant mutant squirrel was terrorizing the playground at Ketcham Park. Authorities had already cleared out all the people and were doing their best to contain it, but now that the L-Force had shown up, they were starting to feel a lot better about the situation.

"Yikes. That is the ugliest squirrel I have _ever_ seen," Princess commented.

"Indeed," Brainy agreed. "So what is our course of action?"

"I say we kick that squirrel in the nuts!" said Athlete.

"No! We can't do that!" Housepet protested. "He's probably just scared, or maybe he's in pain."

"Fine. We try to catch it without hurting it too much," Control Freak ordered. "L-Force, attack!"

Everybody sprang into action. Athlete grabbed the squirrel by the tail and dug her feet into the ground to keep it from running away. Housepet got in front of it to try and calm it down.

"Careful! Watch out for its tongue!" shouted one of the cops.

"What? Why?"

Her question was answered when the squirrel's long whip-like tongue shot right past her and stabbed a nearby tree. The tree quickly turned black and shriveled.

The squirrel whirled around and yanked Athlete out of the ground. She still had a strong grip on its tail, but now it was tossing her around and trying desperately to shake her off.

"Quick, Tailor! We need a net!" said Link. "And make it a big one!"

"Got it!"

Tailor quickly fashioned the biggest net she could out of the strongest fabric she had. Athlete managed to wrestle the creature into submission and moved out of the way just in time for Tailor to trap it. The squirrel thrashed around to try and free itself, but all it could do was lash its tongue around in random directions. Brainy took care of that by using her nanobots to form a muzzle around its mouth.

"Good job, team," Control Freak said. "This guy's not going anywhere."

"Yeah, especially since he got tied up at the last minute," A.F. joked. "Hahahaha! Get it?"

Her siblings all groaned.

Suddenly, Link found himself engulfed in a bright red aura while being levitated off the ground.

"Hey, what's the big idea, Freak?" he said.

"It's not me doing it," she defended.

He was flung against the jungle gym, where the metal rods twisted around his body and held him in place. Then they all saw who was responsible for it. "Oh no."

Infrared descended from the sky, uttering a deep, sinister laugh. "Ready for round 2?" he said before firing the first attack. Link merely watched as his sisters were once again seriously outmatched.

* * *

Future Lincoln waited in the conference room, snacking on an apple. Then his kid self entered, covered in bruises after being pried out of the contorted steel of the jungle gym. His face carried a serious expression.

"Let's do it," young Lincoln said. "I'm ready to train using the core."

"Awesome."


End file.
